Horner Explains the Departures of Wheatley and Courtenay

Christian Horner has revealed that the difficulty of retaining top-level personnel in Formula 1 is due to the budget cap, leading to the departure of key figures such as Jonathan Wheatley and Will Courtenay from Red Bull Racing.

Red Bull has lost significant personnel due to the constraints imposed by the budget limit in Formula 1. Horner stated that it has become increasingly challenging to keep high-caliber staff because of these financial restrictions.

Under the budget cap rules, a team’s operational personnel salaries are accounted for, but the three highest-paid individuals are excluded from this calculation. While the identities of these three individuals are not publicly disclosed, it is believed that Wheatley and Courtenay are not among them.

Discussing the difficulties of this situation, Horner said, “You cannot retain something like Galactus because you cannot afford the cost. You have to look at bang for buck, which forces you to make really tough decisions.”

He added, “Jonathan was a very good sporting director but also an expensive personnel. When an opportunity came from Audi, we told him, ‘You should take this opportunity.’”